A SEASON-defining weekend looms for the Swan Hill Flyers.
Both teams have just one win from their first five games and are hitting the road to face the Kyneton Tigers on Saturday before hosting the Melton Thoroughbreds on Sunday.
Dual wins are a must if either the men’s or women’s Flyers are to make a late CBL North West division finals push.
The men, despite a heavy defeat to Mildura last weekend, should be favourites against Kyneton, the only side yet to post a win this season.
While Melton will be a much tougher assignment 24 hours later, the visitors could be weary from the long road trip north to Mildura the previous evening.
It shapes as a more difficult weekend for the Flyers women, given Kyneton are on top of the ladder and Melton are second.
The Tigers’ only loss was a fortnight ago to Mildura, who the Flyers fell just 10 points short of last week.
Flyers head coach Tess Denham said player availability will be an issue, however.
“Kyneton will be a very tough game on the road, they are very experienced and strong, so that will be a difficult game,” Denham told The Guardian this week.
“That game falls in line with another junior tournament in Horsham as well, so most of our juniors will be away, which will hurt our depth.
“We will struggle with numbers a bit, so it’ll be tough game for us, but hopefully we’ll still be competitive.”
Set to miss were juniors Ava Crow, Scarlet Grey and Indi Grey, who were all having an impact in their first seasons in the CBL team.
Denham was more bullish about her team’s chances on Sunday when also hosting a well-travelled Melton side.
“They’re second on the ladder, so it’ll be a tough game as well, but at the same time, you just know what happens with travelling,” Denham said.
“You really can’t underestimate how much it can take out of teams and, while we know we’ll need to be at our best to capitalise, the competition is so close that you only need to be a little bit off to get beaten.
“The same thing happened to us against Bacchus Marsh earlier this year, so you just never know what will happen from week to week.”
The women will begin Sunday’s Swan Hill Stadium fixtures at noon, with the men to follow from 2pm.
